Originally posted by marc71178 IN interests of fairness, Mr Mxyzptlk came up with "It's not that I think deGroot is a prodigy or anything. I just think that you're being unfair by dismissing him as crap."

Actually Marc, my Internet interfaces have not been working recently. (You do know what and interface is right? ) IE, Mozilla, MSN, ICQ, Trillian, Outlook....nothing worked.

I've been frantically trying to fix the problem over the past couplen of days and as such, have not been able to post. Even now, I am waiting for Windows to reinstall...for the 3rd time. I am typing on my Dad's laptop computer. And no, my Dad doesn't live with me so I didn't have access to his computer all the time.

Anyway, thanks for the concern Marc.....

Regarding deGroot, I never said he was a prodigy. Besides, how many Canadians actually scored runs. As I remember, there were 5 ducks in the innings. 4's the charm

Sreesanth said, "Next ball he was beaten and I said, 'is this the King Charles Lara? Who is this impostor, moving around nervously? I should have kept my mouth shut for the next ball - mind you, it was a length ball - Lara just pulled it over the church beyond the boundary! He is a true legend."

With his captains words still ringing in his ears, Mohammad came out to open the batting. Tap-tap, be patient. Tap-tap, wait for the bad ball. Tap-tap, be patient, tap-tap, wait for the bad ball. One extention of that theory is that when you are facing Shaun Pollock in his current form, you either have a long wait or a quick exit. Al-Sahariar reined himself back for ten minutes. Tap-tap BAD BALL swish caught at cover by Robin Peterson, oh, perhaps the twelfth one faced wasn't such a bad ball after all.
DD rating - 7.5 lilypads

Manjural Islam

Makhaya Ntini pushed a quick ball across Manjural Islam who, the previous ball, had just ducked into a short one. His bat must have been wet because he made a great effort to hang it out to dry. All he succeeded in doing was to to steer the ball straight to Hendrik Human Dippenaar who made a really difficult chance look easy, diving forward. Two balls faced.
DD rating - 6 lilypads

A single from Saeed Anwar brings Inzy on strike. James Anderson gets one to lift, Inzy can't keep it down, simple for Nick Knight. One ball - hardly worth the walk.
DD rating - 2 lilypads

Yousuf Youhana (Pakistan)

A superb delivery from James Anderson dislodges Youhana almost before he has begun - first ball. He'd have been out if he had just been defending a single stump. With 3 to aim at, the bowler gave him no chance. Beaten by pace, swing and just plain yorked.
DD rating - 7 lilypads

Rashid Latif (Pakistan)

Another Anderson victim - the bowler is fast becoming one of DDs players of the tournament. Latif lasted 4 balls - frankly, it was a relief when he did manage to edge one having been powerless to lay bat on ball for the first 3 deliveries he faced. An awesome duck just for persistence.
DD rating - 8 lilypads and joint second place.

Breadcrumb moment - Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan)
100.2 miles per hour - the fastest recorded ball in history - say no more! Just a shame that the rest of his bowling was rubbish today.

Breadcrumb moment - Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan)
Shoaib with the bat was on fire - so much so that Craig White was trying to give him a single just to get him to the other end. He managed it too - a little too late to save his bowling figures from the mincer. 4-6-0-4-6-1 - even pinched the bowling. A mammoth 21 from the over. Shoaib had already gone into the history books with the fastest ball in an ODI (and arguably in history) - now could we look forward to the fastest fifty, certainly by a Pakistani, possibly by anyone? Alas, it was not to be, but a valiant failure nevertheless. In the meantime, Shoaib should be satisfied with a record two breadcrumb moments in the same match.

Having already almost played on to Srinath, LJ later left one from Zaheer Khan which all but cleaned him up. It was a case of third time lucky a couple of balls later when the same bowler produced another guided missile, AKA 'The Yorker' which rattled the Namibian right down to his toes. Hardly surprising, but little entertainment value. There are only so many Burger puns a duck can get away with. A creditable full dozen balls faced for his empty scorecard, though, so a reasonable rating.
DD rating - 4.5 lilypads

Bryan Gavin Murgatroyd

'Heavens to Murgatroyd' goes the saying. Well, in this case it was a case of 'Harbhajan to Murgatroyd'. The 'Peril of Paarl' had transformed into the, er, 'something beginning with P of Pietermaritzburg'. Murgatroyd might as well have been practicing his 'I Spy with my little eye', because he certainly hadn't progressed as far as the letter 'B' - B is for BAT, Brian. Use it. P is for PAD, A is for APPEAL, U is for UMPIRE, O is for OUT, D is for DUCK. Six balls of total inertia.
DD rating - E is for 8 lilypads. A great effort.

Second duck on the trot for Austin - he's getting the hang of it now. Vasbert Drakes put it on the spot, a snick, Ridley Jacobs with the simplest of catches, thank you and goodbye. A solitary ball faced, but one of the poorest first-ball ducks you could ever hope to see - even if it was Vasbert bowling. So close, though. At the non-strikers end on the previous ball, he came within a coat of paint of being run out without facing a ball.
DD rating - 1 lilypad, but so nearly the perfect 10.

Barry Seebaran (Canada)

The only Canadian the Sri Lankans couldn't dismiss. All right, all right, so he didn't face a ball, being marooned at the non-strikers end - he still wasn't out. No disgrace, our Barry. What could Vasbert do to trouble him after carrying his bat so valiantly last week? Well, bowl to him for a start. Just once. P is for PAD er sorry, done that already.
DD rating - 3 lilypads

Breadcrumb moment - John Davison (Canada)

Mervyn Dillon to John Davison, just the 67th ball of his innings. Dillon, unused to the savagery which has been unleashed in his direction over the previous hour or so, whistles one in towards the batsmans wicket. A lofted drive back over the bowlers head - so sweet, the Canadians timing was today - and the ball thuds full pitch into the boundary boards for his fifth six. More to the point, it brought Davison past 100 for the first time in a one-day international. More to the point still, it was the joint fifth fastest of all time in ANY one-day international and the fastest ever in the World Cup. The Canadian guest commentator uttered two words - 'Holy Cow!' I second that. Breadcrumbs? Give him the whole loaf.

23 February footnote - fabulous innings today by Lara, Hinds, Ganguly and Tendulkar but no limelight for you guys - this day belongs to John Michael Davison - and he isn't sharing the breadcrumbs with anyone.